Making Love
by macisgate
Summary: Could she will herself to disappear?  Maybe if she had a pair of red shoes like Dorothy in that silly movie her team had made her watch.   Episode tag for “A Line in the Sand”.  DanielVala.


Making Love

Rated: PG-PG13

Season: 10

Spoilers: "A Line in the Sand"

Disclaimer: I don't own Stargate SG1.

Summary: Could she will herself to disappear? Maybe if she had a pair of red shoes like Dorothy in that silly movie her team had made her watch. Episode tag for "A Line in the Sand". Daniel/Vala.

A/N: Hey Everybody! Okay, so this is going to be slightly AU as I thought up this whole little story and, at the end, remembered that Daniel was off becoming a prior with Adria during this episode. So we will just play pretend. Hey, we're writers. It's what we do…

Thanks so much for reading. Hope you like.

Best wishes and lots of love!

Christine

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Vala leaned against the shut door of her quarters in relief. A headache had taken firm hold, and she reached a hand up to massage the offending area. She took off her jacket and boots and let them fall to the floor as she moved to her bathroom and looked in the mirror for the first time since returning to earth.

She was a mess. Her hair was a nest of tangles, and her lip was swollen. She stared at her reflection. Normally, she relied on her beauty as a mask, to keep people from looking deeper. Vala smiled ruefully. Tomin had taken care of that with the back of his hand. Now she had no barrier of false confidence to protect her. The outside was a perfect reflection of the inside – hurt and wounded. And now everyone would see.

She bowed her head over the sink, not wanting to look anymore as she fought the panic that had no place left to hide.

Could a person will themselves to disappear? Maybe if she had a pair of red shoes like Dorothy in that silly movie her team had made her watch. Then she could just wish herself somewhere else. Kansas was looking rather nice right now.

Vala continued to massage her forehead. She allowed her eyes to water. Why not? It had been a rotten day. She might as well finish it off with a good cry.

When two warm hands rested on her shoulders, Vala didn't move. Yes, she was surprised, but she didn't want whoever it was to see her. And she had a pretty good idea who it was. Why couldn't she ever remember to just lock her door?

He moved her tangled hair from her shoulders to her back, and she pushed her face deeper into her hands to hide.

"Vala-"

Vala shook her head from side to side, hoping he would get the hint and go away.

But he didn't. He just continued to rub her back and brush at her hair.

Finally, she decided he wasn't going to go away. No use fighting it. She straightened her back and looked at his reflection standing behind hers in the glass. Her eyes were red and swollen now, matching her lip. And she'd thought she couldn't look any worse.

"Daniel, I'm not good company right now. I-"

Daniel reached his hand up to cover the one she held over her mouth and pulled it down.

"Did Tomin do this?"

"Yes."

She continued to look at him, waiting for him to pull away from her.

Seduction would get her nowhere now. She would only come across as ridiculous looking as she did. Maybe she could will _him_ to disappear to Kansas or, at the very least, leave.

But he didn't. With one hand still on her back, he took a face cloth from her sink, wet it with cold water, and held it to her lip.

"Daniel, you don't have to-"

"I want to," he cut her off.

"I thought you were off-world with SG5."

"I was. I got back about half an hour ago. I checked in on Sam, but she's still in recovery after the surgery. Teal'c and Cam filled me in on what happened."

"Dr. Lam says Samantha will make a full recovery."

"It's not Sam I'm worried about." He placed her hand over the cloth. He took her other hand in his and pulled her out of the bathroom. She pulled back.

"Daniel, I don't want to go out there." Was he going to parade her around the base so that everyone could see? Would he take her to General Landry and have her removed from the team for not being strong enough? For not keeping up with his expectations?

She stopped resisting when she realized he was leading her to her bed. He sat down beside her, facing her, and reached for one pigtail, then the other, taking off the elastics that held them precariously in place. She looked at him with uncertainty.

He set the elastics on the nightstand and picked up her hairbrush. Starting at the bottom and working his way up, he gently worked through each tangle until her hair was a silk sheet once again.

He continued to brush her hair even after the tangles were gone, as though for the sheer pleasure of it. By the time he was finished, her lip had stopped throbbing. She used the face cloth to rub her eyes then set it down beside her.

When he put his arms around her and held her against his chest, she didn't resist. She felt something release inside her and allowed herself to relax against him. He kissed the top of her head. Weariness settled over her, and she closed her eyes.

"Come here," Daniel said as he moved them further onto the bed and laid down with her still against him. Vala's eyes widened in surprise and awareness. She hadn't expected him to be the one to make the first move. She played carefully with one of his hands. Not that she didn't want to.

"Um Daniel, I know I'm going to absolutely abhor myself for saying this later, but I don't think sex is such a good idea right now. I-"

"I don't want to make love to you, Vala. I just want to hold you."

"Oh," Vala said uncertainly as he pulled her even closer against him. "Okay."

"I'm sorry you had a bad day."

Vala nodded.

"You can cry if you want to," he whispered.

Vala nodded again. She already was.

Soon her breathing matched his. She knew sleep had claimed him and would soon claim her too. As it did, she couldn't help but think, _Daniel Jackson, if this is not making love, I don't know what is._


End file.
